GL - Inquiry & Drilldown

GL - Inquiry & Drilldown

An account inquiry is a review of any type of financial account, whether it be a depository account or a credit account. In this tutorial, you learn what we mean by drill through functionality in the context of the general ledger system. We will explain the concept of drill-down and how it enables users to perform account and transaction inquiry at a granular level and the benefits of using this functionality.

What is Account Drilldown?

In information technology, to drill down means to move from summary information to detailed data by zooming in on something. In an ERP environment, "drilling-down" may involve clicking on some account balance or summary representation in order to reveal transactional data.

To drill down is to navigate through a series of steps, for example, the user starts with the summary balances that are made up of a group of accounts with individual balances, and drill down takes the user through the hierarchy to the individual account balances. The individual account balances are made up of transactions that have been posted in those accounts for a specified period and further drill down at this second level takes the user to the set of transactions. These steps of moving from summary balance to account balance belong to the general ledger system, however, the transactions might have originated from a subsidiary ledger. Further drill down at this level will take the user to a level of greater detail where the user can see the original transaction in the sub-ledger itself. Here in the drill-down process, the user is navigating from a higher level of consolidated information to a deeper level into data, without leaving the source system or changing user access.

When one drills down, one performs de facto data analysis on a parent attribute and inquiry of the detailed attributes that constitute the parent attribute. Drilling down provides a method of exploring multidimensional data by moving from one level of detail to the next. Drill-down levels depend on the data granularity and drill-down is a sub-function of inquiry and analysis. Drilldown functionality allows business users to gain better business insight to make critical decisions in order to beat out their competition.

Upstream & Downstream Systems:

Upstream Systems: In geography, upstream literally means towards the source of a stream or river, or against the normal direction of water flow. In the context of general ledger, upstream systems refer to the systems that send data to the general ledger system. In other words, upstream systems are subsidiary ledgers and other source systems that are capturing the transactional data and sending the accounting data to the general ledger for further processing.

Downstream Systems: Similarly, in geography, downstream literally means away from the source of a stream or river, or in the normal direction of water flow. In the context of the general ledger system, downstream systems refer to the systems that take data from the general ledger as their input. Some examples are consolidation systems, enterprise performance management systems (EPM), reconciliation systems, or business intelligence systems. The financial data from the general ledger are carried over as input for these downstream systems for further processing.

GL - Inquiry & Drilldown

Drilldown from General Ledger to Upstream Systems:

In the advances general ledger systems, users can drill down to sub-ledgers details from General Ledger and can get all of the transaction details that comprise an account balance, regardless of which sub-ledger originated the transaction. This functionality helps in analyzing any account balance by understanding the source of the transaction and viewing additional information that has been captured in the source system and not imported into the general ledger system.

Drilldown from Downstream Systems to General Ledger:

Many advanced EPM or Consolidation downstream systems provides the users with the capability to drill down from their system to underlying Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) transaction data. Some examples with the ability to drill down from Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) applications are Oracle Hyperion Financial Management System and Oracle Hyperion Planning. An example of a consolidation system is Oracle Financial Consolidation Hub. These systems allow the user to drill down from consolidated information to the related general ledger system. This provides users with greater visibility into business processes and a greater understanding of the consolidated data.

For most organizations, the basis for global financial consolidation, reporting and analysis, planning, budgeting, and forecasting are derived from a company's existing operational information which is generally stored in many different general ledgers like Oracle, SAP, PeopleSoft, or JD Edwards systems and drill down allows the user to see the actual data in the various general ledgers that constitute the data in these systems. 

Drilldown within General Ledger System:

There are various drill-downs that are available in the general ledger system. We will briefly explain each one of them:

1. Interactive Report:

A Drill-Down Report is also called an Interactive Report and has more detail and capability to analyze and inquire data at a granular level. For example, the user is looking at the Balance Sheet Report with drill-down functionalities. The top-level information contains consolidated balances for a group of accounts such as current assets, fixed assets, etc. The drill-down functionality helps the user to select a line item (e.g., fixed assets) and drill-down further to a detailed list (secondary list) which displays various components of the fixed assets such as land, buildings, machinery, etc.

2. Summary Balances:

Some general ledgers provide the functionality to maintain summary accounts that contain consolidated balance for the group of accounts clubbed under that summary account. Users may drill-down to individual group accounts by using the drill-down functionality.

3. Account Balances:

Drilling down on balances in the general ledger may take the user to line level transactions constituting those balances.

4. Account Transactions:

Drilling down on balances will take the user to the journal where the transaction has been captured in the source system.

Related Links

Creation Date Tuesday, 30 November -0001 Hits 20137

You May Also Like

  • GL - Journal Posting and Balances

    GL - Journal Posting and Balances

    In this tutorial, we will explain what we mean by the posting process and what are the major differences between the posting process in the manual accounting system compared to the automated accounting systems and ERPs. This article also explains how posting also happens in subsidiary ledgers and subsequently that information is again posted to the general ledger.

  • GL - GAAP Accounting

    GL - GAAP Accounting

    Generally Accepted Accounting Principles define the accounting procedures, and understanding them is essential to producing accurate and meaningful records. In this article we emphasize on accounting principles and concepts so that the learner can understand the “why” of accounting which will help you gain an understanding of the full significance of accounting. 

  • What are Management Entities?

    What are Management Entities?

    In this article we will discuss various types of "Management Entities". Various types of operational units, are created by management, to effectively run, manage and control their business. Different types of functional units, and divisional units, are widely used across industry.

  • Introduction to Organizational Structures

    Introduction to Organizational Structures

    Organizations are systems of some interacting components. Levitt (1965) sets out a basic framework for understanding organizations. This framework emphasizes four major internal components such as: task, people, technology, and structure. The task of the organization is its mission, purpose or goal for existence. The people are the human resources of the organization.

  • Contra & Control Accounts

    Contra & Control Accounts

    There are five types of core accounts to capture any accounting transaction. Apart from these fundamental accounts, some other special-purpose accounts are used to ensure the integrity of financial transactions. Some examples of such accounts are clearing accounts, suspense accounts, contra accounts, and intercompany accounts. Understand the importance and usage of these accounts.

  • GL - Accrued Expenses

    GL - Accrued Expenses

    Accrued expenses, sometimes referred to as accrued liabilities, are expenses that have been incurred but have not been recorded in the accounts. Discuss the need to record accrued liabilities and why they require an adjustment entry. Understand the treatment for these entries once the accounting period is closed and learn to differentiate when the commitments become liabilities.

  •  Network Organizational Structures

    Network Organizational Structures

    The newest, and most divergent, team structure is commonly known as a Network Structure (also called "lean" structure) has central, core functions that operate the strategic business. It outsources or subcontracts non-core functions. When an organization needs to control other organizations or agencies whose participation is essential to the success, a network structure is organized.

  • GL - Reversing Journal Entry

    GL - Reversing Journal Entry

    Reversing Journals are special journals that are automatically reversed after a specified date. A reversing entry is a journal entry to “undo” an adjusting entry. When you create a reversing journal entry it nullifies the accounting impact of the original entry. Reversing entries make it easier to record subsequent transactions by eliminating the need for certain compound entries. See an example of reversing journal entry!

  • Understanding Joint Ventures

    Understanding Joint Ventures

    A joint venture (JV) is a business agreement in which the parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets.  A joint venture takes place when two or more parties come together to take on one project.

  • Concept of Legal Entity

    Concept of Legal Entity

    A legal entity is an artificial person having separate legal standing in the eyes of law. A Legal entity represents a legal company for which you prepare fiscal or tax reports. A legal entity is any company or organization that has legal rights and responsibilities, including tax filings.

Explore Our Free Training Articles or
Sign Up to Start With Our eLearning Courses

Subscribe to Our Newsletter


© 2023 TechnoFunc, All Rights Reserved